And in the end | And in the end love dies away

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by Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg

Translation © by Dina Levias

Und endlich stirbt die Sehnsucht doch ‑‑...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG ENG

Und endlich stirbt die Sehnsucht doch -- -- --
Wie Blüten sterben im Kellerloch,
[Wenn sie ewig]¹ auf ein bißchen Sonne warten.
Wie Thiere sterben, die man lieblos hält,
Und alles Unbetreute in der Welt!
Man [denkt]² nicht mehr:  “Wo wird sie sein!--?!?“
Ruhig erwacht man, ruhig schläft man ein.
Wie in verwehte Jugendtage blickst du zurück
Und [irgend einer]³ sagt dir [weise]⁴: „'s ist dein Glück!“
Da denkt man, daß es vielleicht wirklich so ist,
Wundert sich still, daß man doch nicht froh ist -- -- --.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• H. Eisler

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Peter Altenberg, „Cyklus: Ljuba“ in Widmungen zur Feier des Siebzigsten Geburtstages Ferdinand von Saar’s, herausgegeben von Richard Specht, Wien: Wiener Verlag, 1903, page 39.

¹ Eisler: "Die täglich"
² Eisler: "fragt"
³ Eisler: "irgendjemand"
⁴ Eisler: "leise"

Text Authorship:

by Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg, no title, appears in Cyklus: Ljuba, first published 1932 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Und endlich", 1953 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Research team for this page: Andy Lang , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 87

And in the end

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

And in the end love dies away, 
as flowers wilt, 
when in a lightless place
they yearn in vain to glimpse the sunshine's rays.
It dies, as do the animals we keep,
for whom we have no feelings,
and all the world's love-starved 
and neglected beings.

No longer do I fret,
Where is she now ? Where may she be ?
I wake up peacefully, and peacefully I sleep.
As I look back to bygone youthful years 
I hear a whisper in my ears:
"this is a lucky turn for you, my boy" 
and think, yes, maybe it is truly so.
Still, quietly I start to wonder: Oh, 
but where is gladness, where's the joy ?

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2012 by Dina Levias, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Dina Levias. Contact: dinale (AT) bluewin (DOT) ch
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Richard Engländer (1859 - 1919), as Peter Altenberg, no title, appears in Cyklus: Ljuba, first published 1932
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-08-18
Line count: 17
Word count: 113